Grad Ross Lara Travels to British Columbia to Film Music Video

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Recently, 2010 Recording Arts grad Ross Lara journeyed to the wilderness of British Columbia to record a music video for “Infinity,” the newest single from electronic music duo The Spacies.

Ross, who’s also the CEO and co-founder of the media company Archipelago Entertainment, says he and music partner Dave Cook have a mutual taste for adventure, and are always dreaming of new places to record songs and/or produce tracks.

We caught up with Ross to learn more about “Infinity” – which was produced by Hall of Fame Inductee Phil Tan – and to find out what’s next on the agenda for The Spacies.

How did the idea for the video arise?

The “Infinity” music video is a perfect representation of what our company (Archipelago Entertainment) believes in. We strive to marry the worlds of music, technology, and worldwide adventure. When we were presented with the opportunity to team up with Canadian Mountain Holidays and Rind-Raja Picture Company to record in British Columbia, we did not hesitate for a moment to say “Yes!”

What kinds of challenges did you face while creating the video?

Recording and filming deep in the wilderness of British Columbia has one major challenge: Mother Nature. On our first day of filming, we were at the summit of a mountain and a snow storm rolled in. The temperature dropped from 50 to 34 degrees within 20 minutes. And on our second day of filming, we were recording vocals in a meadow in pouring rain. We had to cover our equipment with tarps every three to four vocal takes to avoid water damage.

From a filming perspective, we had no advance location scouting or story boarding opportunities before we arrived in Canada. Our director/producer Roth Rind worked with the staff of Canadian Mountain Holidays and the helicopter pilot each morning to determine what shots we needed. Roth put together a stunning video with essentially no preparation.

What was the most exciting part of creating the video?

This project was life-changing. Viewing the final cut of our video reminded me that, if you have a vision, chase it. This is the type of work I was dreaming about two years ago.

In Canada, our third and final day of filming was by far the highlight. Dave, Roth, Brian, our guide Tom and I were working on top of a mountain overlooking breathtaking scenery. My “music desk” was built out of thick slabs of rock. Dave cut some of the best vocals of his career on top of that mountain. The most memorable part of the day? Climbing the spire to capture our final aerial shots.

What it was like working with Phil Tan?

The music industry needs more people like Phil. He is a dear friend and has taught me a lot about music and life. I’ll give Phil my mixes and he takes them to the next level. He did this with “Infinity,” and it sounds amazing.

Any anecdotes about the experience that you’d like to share?

Working on projects like this is all about the people around you. Yeah, recording on top of mountains and riding in helicopters is really cool. But I was lucky to spend a week with my closest friends, creating memorable art in the boonies of Canada. The brotherhood runs much deeper once you share something crazy like this together. On the drive home to Colorado, I was reminded what good company I was in when I received a call about a family member passing. There is an old saying – “you are who you hang out with” – and those guys make me a better person.

What’s next for The Spacies?

Dave and I are working on our debut EP right now! We also have a handful of collaborations with DJs on Armada Music (Armin Van Buuren’s label) and Universal Music. More importantly, Dave and I are counting down the days until there’s enough snow accumulation in Colorado to go snowmobiling and push our limits yet again!